orporations. In later times these same principles and
interests divided the Orangist and the States parties, and were
inherited from the Hooks and Cods of mediaeval Holland. The marriages
of Albert's son, William, with Margaret the sister of John the Fearless,
Duke of Burgundy, and of John the Fearless with Albert's daughter,
Margaret, were to have momentous consequences. Albert died in 1404 and
was succeeded by William VI, who before his death in 1417 caused the
nobles and towns to take the oath of allegiance to his daughter and only
child, Jacoba or Jacqueline.[2]

Jacoba, brave, beautiful and gifted, for eleven years maintained her
rights against many adversaries, chief among them her powerful and
ambitious cousin, Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy. Her courage and
many adventures transformed her into a veritable heroine of romance. By
her three marriages with John, Duke of Brabant, with Humphry, Duke of
Gloucester, and, finally, with Frans van Borselen, she had no children.
Her hopeless fight with Philip of Burgundy's superior resources ended at
last in the so-called "Reconciliation of Delft" in 1428, by which, while
retaining the title of countess, she handed over the government to
Philip and acknowledged his right of succession to the Countship upon
her death, which took place in 1436.

G.E.

_November_, 1921

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGES

GENERAL PREFACE v

PROLOGUE vii-ix

CHAP.

I. The Burgundian Netherlands 1-11

II. Habsburg Rule in the Netherlands 12-26

III. The Prelude to the Revolt 27-46

IV. The Revolt of the Netherlands 47-68

V. William the Silent 69-81

VI. The Beginnings of the Dutch Republic 82-109

VII. The System of Government 110-118

VIII. The Twelve Years' Truce 119-126

IX. Maurice and Oldenbarneveldt 127-138

X. From the end of the Twelve Years' Truce
to the Peace of Munster, 1621-1648.
The Stadholderate
of Frederick Henry of Orange 139-158

XI. The East and West India Companies.
Commercial and Economic Expansion 159-185

XII.